Welcome to the Friends of The National Archives

– A New Book – ‘A Passion for Records’ by Christopher Kitching, CBE. See here for more information.

Helping to preserve the nation’s documentary heritage and making it more accessible

The Friends of The National Archives is a registered charity and voluntary organisation set up in 1988 at the then Public Record Office (PRO) and launched at a conference celebrating 150 years of the setting up of the PRO. We now have over 1100 members across the UK and globally too – including Europe, and North America. We were registered as a charity in 1990. We have a governing Council, comprising members of the Charity with trustee status and responsibility. The governance of the Friends is entirely on a voluntary basis. The Friends is a member of the British Association of the Friends of Museums (BAFM). We also network with other like-minded voluntary organisations supporting local archives, in addition to local and family history societies.

Membership benefits

20 per cent discount on purchases in the bookshop at Kew and online

20 per cent discount on charges for events run by The National Archives

Special members’ only events including behind-the-scenes tours at The National Archives

Behind-the-scenes visits to historic places and collections

The 48-page members’ magazine Magna is published twice a year (May and November)

The Outreach newsletter is published electronically every two months from February

Access to our dedicated members’ lounge at Kew

Members’ area on this website for access to our magazine and newsletter archive, blog, forum and other publications